In announcing the lease, Mr. Trump said it was a sign of the unfortunate standing of the United States and the U.S. dollar in the world that led him to do this.

“It’s a sad day when a large property owner starts accepting gold instead of the dollar,” Mr. Trump said in an interview. “The economy is bad, and Obama’s not protecting the dollar at all….If I do this, other people are going to start doing it, and maybe we’ll see some changes.”

Mr. Trump said he has some gold in his personal portfolio, but declined to say how much.

(Mr. Trump is the father-in-law of Observer publisher Jared Kushner.)

The idea was actually the tenants’s, The Journal points out, which if it takes off should help cover that deposit: Apmex is a precious metals dealer that “is promoting the use of gold as a replacement for cash in some situations.”